Resisting+Change+2G

**__Introduction__**
The 1920s was very prosperous for many people with much leisure time and fun. But, some people were angered by these changes and fought out against them. The Ku Klux Klan fought out against the new acceptance of Blacks, Roman Catholics, and Jews. The state legislation in Tennesse was against the theory of evolution, and John Scopes fought against it. African America, angered by racism, wanted to get out of America and started the Back-To-America-Movement. Lastly, the red scare made people against foriegners, most famously in the Sacco and Vanzetti when two Italian anarchists were accused of a crime they didn't commit. All in all there was a lot of change in the 1920s, but none of these groups were able to keep it the way it was.

**__The Ku Klux Klan During the 1920s__**
The Ku Klux Klan became very powerful from 1920 until 1925. The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, is a secret terrorist organization with its roots in the civil war. The KKK ran strong until it was defeated in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant and the U.S. army. In around 1920, Methodist preacher William Joseph Simmons reestablished the Klan. The Klan’s membership was held to only white, native born, Protestants yet the membership grew to 4 million people at its top. The membership grew so high because small business men wanted people to blame for their poverty and powerlessness. They did not competley believed in what the Klan said but being part of it helped their business. People in the KKK attacked Blacks, Roman Catholics, and Jews. They would act as a moral police force, punishing people who disobeyed the law and at times way too harshly. For example, they lynched a black man for not leaving a town fast enough when they told him to, threatened teens caught kissing, beat a man until he admitted burglary, and much more. The police was too afraid to go out at night to stop the KKK and the many little attempts to break up the Klan ultimately failed. In 1925, Indiana Klan leader David C. Stephenson decided to run for state senate. Stephenson’s confidence was very high after seeing another Klan member be elected as state governor. The person who was elected as state governor had used color speaking to appeal to voter’s emotions. Stephenson decided to use the same tactics but he was too vicious and unprincipled. While running for senate Stephenson kidnapped and brutally beat an Indiana worker who refused his sexual advances. He tried covering the story up by forcing her to drink deathly poison but the worker was able to explain to the police what had happened before dying. Stephenson was then sent to prison for life showing the terribleness of the KKK. After this occurrence, the American public realized that the KKK was lawless and morally corrupt. By 1928 the Ku Klux Klan fell apart again.



__Key Terms:__

The KKK William Joseph Simmons David C. Stephenson

Yancey, Diane. //Life During the Roaring Twenties//. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, Inc., 2002. 87-91. Print.

Levitas, Daniel, and Michael Les Benedict. "Ku Klux Klan." //Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.// Grolier Online, 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2011

**__ The Scopes “Monkey” Trial __**
In the 1920’s, the Tennessee Legislature passed the Butler Law. This law made it illegal to teach evolution of any other species besides humans to students. Evolution is the scientific theory that states that humans and all other living things come from different, earlier species. The Butler Law was only held a 100 to 500 dollar fine for violating it and there was almost no way that any violators could be arrested. Also, this law was only enforced in tax-paying elementary schools. John Scopes was a football and mathematics teacher at the public school in the town of Dayton. He only substituted Dayton’s science class one day, and never taught his students evolution. Scopes was found not guilty of his accused crimes, but he decided to test the “constitutionality” of the Butler Act. He ended up being arrested by his friend, Sue Hicks, for violating this law. John Scopes was never jailed for one minute; he only violated a misdemeanor. John Scopes was given the best defensive attorney team ever for a misdemeanor. This trialcould not have happened without the Fundamentalists.



Click [|here] to open a short video on the Scopes Trial Key terms: John Scopes Evolution Butler Law

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**__ Sacco and Vanzetti Trial __**

A very famous murder case in the United States took place in the early 1920’s in Massachusetts. The main people in this case were two Italians, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They were mistaken for a group of bandits who killed two people working in a shoe factory, as well as stealing roughly sixteen thousand dollars. The two men were found guilty in July of 1921 and about six years later, they were electrocuted. The main reason they were accused was because of their political beliefs, although it also happened to just be an accident that got them into the terrible situation. The outcome of this trial angered many people. They thought that there was not enough evidence to call Sacco and Vanzetti guilty. Those people were right because they actually weren’t guilty! On the other hand, many people believed that they were in fact guilty. A couple reasons that these people thought this were that Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian and that they were anarchists. In all, the Sacco and Vanzetti case was one of the most well-known cases in the history of the United States of America.

__Key Terms:__ Nicola Sacco Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Sifakis, Carl. "Sacco and Vanzetti case." The Encyclopedia of American Crime, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAC1231&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 10, 2011).

"Sacco and Vanzetti Case." //Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.// Grolier Online, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. Forman, James D. "Sacco-Vanzetti case." //World Book Student.// World Book, 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

__The Back to Africa Movement__ The Back-to-Africa movement encouraged people with an African background to return to Africa. The idea was introduced in the 1920s by Marcus Garvey in Harlem. Marcus Garvey became a very popular black leader who started the first widespread African American movement in the United States. Racial tension increased because the African American population grew immensely in the North thanks to the Great Migration. Many African Americans were facing violence from the Ku Klux Klan, and racism and lynching amounts reached a high for African Americans. Jim Crow laws were also put in place, separating black and white people. This injustice angered the African Americans, and they were eager to leave the United States. They begged politicians for a passage to Africa. The United Negro Improvement Association, which was formed by Marcus Garvey, argued that the only place where African Americans could gain equality was back in Africa. Marcus Garvey told African Americans to rely on themselves to get ahead instead of relying on white people. Garvey urged African Americans to return to their ancestor’s home in Africa to find their roots. Few African Americans actually returned to Africa, but the movement gave pride to African Americans.



Key Terms: Marcus Garvey- journalist, publisher, and entrepreneur who was greatly involved in the back-to-Africa movement and founded the United Negro Improvement Association United Negro Improvement Association- an organization formed by Marcus Garvey that aimed to improve the lives of African Americans Jim Crow Laws- laws that separated African Americans from whites, giving them separate facilities []

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